CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. – The mantra “if you win, they will notice” hasn’t exactly applied in the case of Annika Sorenstam, which might be the most egregious injustice going in sports today.

Sorenstam, who at 10:28 (EDT) this morning from the 10th tee will begin her historic pursuit of the third leg of the LPGA Grand Slam in the U.S. Women’s Open at the venerable Cherry Hills Country Club, might be the most underrated superstar sports has ever known.

When you sit down and do the math it leaves you to wonder how Sorenstam doesn’t garner the same awe that Tiger Woods has on the PGA Tour. The numbers tell you she’s more dominant in her sport than Woods is or Michael Jordan ever was in the NBA.

There is great irony that Sorenstam is best known by the casual sports fan for playing against the men in the 2004 Colonial, something that drew an incredible amount of mixed opinions.

Sorenstam, who said all along she was accepting the sponsor’s exemption in an effort to make herself better, was excoriated by a number of PGA Tour pros for accepting the invite.

Sorenstam’s results since playing the Colonial are striking. They tell you that she’s gone and done exactly what she set out to do – use the Colonial to better herself. Since barely missing the cut at the Colonial, Sorenstam has played in 38 LPGA Tour events and won 19 of them. During that span she has seven secondplace finishes and has been in the top 10 in 34 of those 38 events.

“I definitely think Colonial is playing a big part I this,” Sorenstam said yesterday. “The preparation and being under the microscope is something I’ve learned from.”

Wonder what the knucklehead detractors like Vijay Singh think of Sorenstam’s motives for playing Colonial under such a blinding spotlight now?

Entering this week’s Women’s Open, Sorenstam has won five of the last nine majors she’s played in, including the Kraft Nabisco Championship and the McDonald’s LPGA Championship, the first two majors of 2005.

A win this week at Cherry Hills, a course that plays right into Sorenstam’s game in that it puts a premium on accurate tee shots and a great short game, and she’ll play the Women’s British Open next month for the Slam, something no woman has ever accomplished.

It will be compelling to see how much more attention Sorenstam will gather should she win this week.

Despite the fact that she’s still far too under the radar, Sorenstam has plenty of supporters in high places, including her friend Tiger Woods, with whom she’s practiced and whom she would surpass in major victories (10 to nine) with a win this week.

“Her focus, her determination, her preparation over the winter months; people don’t realize how hard she works,” Woods said. “We worked on our short games together this fall. You can’t believe how hard she works. She didn’t get to this level by just hoping she could play well. She went out and worked and took it to another level.”

Said Sorenstam of her relationship with Woods: “I watch him. I analyze him. I want to learn from him and he’s been very, very helpful. He’s shared with me a lot of his secrets, a lot of his thoughts on the game.”

Phil Mickelson: “I have the week off, so I’ll be watching it pretty intently. I’ve become a big fan of hers. The way she’s been playing, I’m trying to emulate. I’m certainly pulling for her.”

Ernie Els: “I totally admire what she does. It’s amazing. The most striking thing about her is accuracy. There’s no real weakness in her game. She’s just blowing people away right now.”

Sergio Garcia: “She’s amazing. I’m really pulling for her.”

So, too, are a lot of Sorenstam’s peers on the LPGA Tour – despite the fact that they’re fighting for their pieces of the pie.

“If she does win the Grand Slam, I hope it elevates us even further than we are now, because she certainly deserves it,” defending Women’s Open champion Meg Mallon said yesterday.

More staggering Sorenstam statistics: She’s played in 236 career LPGA events and finished first or second 101 times, including 62 wins.

Sorenstam has entered eight events this year and has won six of them. In the two she didn’t win, she finished second and 12th. According to a Golf World statistical write-up, Sorenstam enters this week with an average scoring round of 68.60, which is 2.05 strokes lower than Cristie Kerr, who’s in second place. That’s the same distance in scoring average from Kerr in second place to Kim Saiki in 40th place. On the PGA Tour, 2.05 strokes is the separation from No. 1 to No. 78.

“Personally I think Annika is the best story in golf right now,” Jill McGill said. “She’s in a league of her own. She’s just in a zone that you see an athlete get into once in a decade.”

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U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN at Cherry Hills

* Purse: $3.1 million

* Defending champ: Meg Mallon

TV TIMES:

Today: 5-9 p.m., ESPN2

Tomorrow: 5-9 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday: 3-6 p.m., Ch. 4

Sunday: 3-6 p.m., Ch. 4

KEY PAIRINGS:

Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa and Rosie Jones, 10:28 a.m. (EDT); Michelle Wie, Laura Davies and Brittany Lincicome, 3:43 p.m.